From August, 27th till 31st we will make Squatting a topic again. Let’s exchange experiences together, lets discuss, roam the streets and start some action.
Reasons for squatting are numerous and various: To protest against unaffordable and rising rent, to prevent a building from being teared down, out of the need of new, self-organised and uncomercial spaces, for living, as ateliers, workshops, cultural centres and many many more.
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Squatters have taken over a leisure centre that has been left empty for two years, pledging to turn it into a place for the community.
A group of 14 people have taken up residency in the Mornington Sports Centre, in Arlington Road, which has been vacant since being sold off by the council.
The building was due to be turned into private homes, but developers have been slowed down by wrangling over planning permission. [Read More]
On Friday, the 7th February in the early evening, police evicted the “silent squat” in Neklanova street in Prague 2, used exclusively for housing. The house owned by an Italian company who have cleared the house besides one tenant who welcomed the ‘squatters’. During the intervention, which was without unjustified violence by the security forces, sixteen people were arrested, including several onlookers who came to support the squatters.
As some of you might know, the Mandril will soon get evicted – on the 1st of April we (the MCPC and the people who live here) must have left the building.
This is because the area will be renovated and new projects will inhabit these buildings. Our cultural freezone siblings the Hotel the Ossekop needed to be demolished for this, a big part of the Cultuurfront (also a cultural freezone) was also eaten by the bulldozer in a surprising turn of events and so the Mandril too must make space. Our own building will be filled up by the Toneelgroep Maastricht (theatre group), and soon the indie film house Lumiere will be relocated to another empty building on the terrain, next to the Muziekgieterij. [Read More]
This morning a house on the Van Sijpesteijnkade 25 has been squatted. The police has passed by and is deciding if they are going to do something. The building is property of NS, who is buying a lot of buildings around the station for huge development plans. The whole street will be demolished on short terms, but because this building is a monument they integrated it into the new building plans and it wont be demolished. When these plans will take place is still unclear.
The neighborhood has protested the plans to demolish the street. The buildings are beautiful, there is a lot of history in these buildings and they are in good conditions to live in. The plans for the new buildings are dull, grey and not inspiring. The demolition of this street is a shame, but is made possible because the old residents have been replaced years ago for anti-squat. Anti-squatters can be kicked out on short notice. [Read More]
During the last months various squats were opened and closed in Amsterdam and surroundings. Yet, the eviction procedure is becoming easier for the cops. Recently, the police came out with an old trick, the speed- eviction: despite squatting being illegal, squatters still have the right to domestic peace, to get notified 8 weeks in advance, and to be able to start a court case to defend themselves. However, in the last weeks two office buildings in the Amsterdam’s surroundings were evicted by regular cops without any notice, just a few days after the occupation. The squatters were arrested and quickly released without charges.
Evictions without notice and without a court ruling are illegal, as they violate the right to domestic privacy of the inhabitants. The cops know this well, but too often they put themselves ‘above the law’ to serve the interests of private property owners.
To stop the trend of illegal speed-evictions, the Amsterdam squatting groups are about to sue the state, and made a call out to other groups of squatters for collecting cases of speed-eviction. [Read More]
The police is threatening squatted buildings in Amsterdam and surroundings with speed-evictions, which means eviction without previous notice nor decision by a judge. One of the tools to reverse this trend is to start a court-case against speed eviction.
On October 1st, 2010 , the new law 138A on ” Squatting and Vacancy ‘ was included in the Penal Code. Although this law defines squatting as a crime, squatters still have the right to domestic peace. This means that the police is not allowed to evict squatted buildings without notice and without a court sentence. Thus speed eviction constitute a violation to this right, violation that is allowed only in situations of emergency. This state of ”emergency” could be applied when the property was still in use at the time it was squatted, in case of dangerous situation or when there is disturbance of public order. Only in these cases the police can decide to evict the squat immediately. [Read More]
The current system is in crisis, economically, ecologically, morally and in numerous humanitarian crises. This affects all of us.
Collectively we think that working in precarious conditions and being exploited for other’s profit is unacceptable. We want education accessible for everyone, independent from their social background and bank account. Tuition fees, often resulting in life long debt, and the privatisation of all public services can and should be fought. [Read More]
CanVies is an Occupied assembly run Social center, set in what was once a CNT Union Center 80 years ago, The occupation has lasted 17 years and has local support. In calling for ‘local defense’ against eviction the occupiers refer to the successful Gamonal community uprising in Burgos just 2 weeks ago. The evictions of 4 other Catalan social centers are coinciding in the next weeks… [Read More]
A group of squatters have moved into a leisure centre left empty for two years after Camden Council sold it off. The Mornington Sports Centre in Arlington Road, Camden Town, is set to be turned into new private homes, but developers have been slowed down by wrangling over planning permission.
Squatters who call themselves the North London Squatting Collective say they will turn it into a place for plays and workshops until the new owners are ready to start building work. Members of the same group were recently involved in the occupation of the Friern Barnet Library and The Bohemia Community Centre in Barnet. [Read More]
Police close and destroy Syrian squat – Since the big eviction wave in autumn 2013, most migrants in Calais are forced to sleep outside in tents. But weather and temperature are horrible at the moment. Wind and rain makes it very difficult or impossible to live like this.
On Sunday the police closed and destroyed one of last squats in Calais. Just five persons have found shelter in this house, which had been empty since months.
The Cops arrived in the afternoon, when some of the inhabitants were at home. Without any warning the Cops broke their door and entered the building. The persons living there explained to the police that they are sick and can not live outside. But they did not care about that fact. They forced the people to leave their home. The were not able to take all their personal belongings with them. [Read More]
A delayed update!
Last week we were evicted by High Court bailiffs after loosing court on the 30th January 2014. We made various attempts to contact the owners and negotiate an appropriate leaving date, to coincide with work commencing on the building, but the developers had no interest in speaking with us. The papers for court which inevitably led to our eviction was the only sign the owners gave us that they wanted us to leave. All too typical for squatting.
Additionally to the eviction of 52B (including 1 Shore Place, the living space for part of the crew, which included the popular anarcha-corridoor), an elderly lady who had been asked to leave by March 2014 was prematurely evicted, while the final pair of tenants in 52D narrowly avoided eviction, but are still due to leave on 15th February 2014. [Read More]
